How’s the View?

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. —Ephesians 2:6

You have learned that when Jesus was crucified, your old man was crucified; when Jesus died, your old man died; and when Jesus was buried, your old man was buried. You are no longer the same person you used to be. The old man has passed away, and you must associate and identify with his death. But now, in this verse, you discover that the burial of the old man was not the end; there was also a raising up of a new you, a new spiritual species of being, when Christ was raised from the dead. When He was raised, you were raised, and when He was seated at the right hand of the Father, you were seated at the right hand of the Father. Everything that Jesus did, He did for mankind—He did for you! His life, death, and resurrection were to benefit fallen mankind, to bring us out of the bondage and up from under the curse that Adam had placed on us. God did not need the cross, the angels did not need it, but mankind had to be killed and then reborn spiritually into a place of dominion and rulership. God’s original plan of making us in His image and likeness has never changed. His plan of man having authority and dominion has never changed. It was man who sinned and fell out of God’s perfect will for him. So God sent Jesus to die, to be buried—but also to be raised and seated—so you could be raised and seated with Him!

Pastor Tom Kehres

With Whom Are You Being Seen?

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. —Galatians 3:27

The day you received Jesus as Lord and Savior, you were given the ability to put on Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory, can be allowed to shine through you to a place where you are hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). People will be able to see what (and who) you are wearing, and they will be interested in where you got it! “Are those new shoes? Where did you buy them?” “You are always in peace and always joyful—why are you that way?” You can then tell them, “It’s because I have learned to put on Christ! I received Him at the new birth, and now I am wearing Him.” You no longer should identify with your heritage—Greek, Jewish, Italian, Irish; and you should no longer identify with your sex—male or female (Galatians 3:28); but you are now Christ’s, “Abraham’s seed, and an heir according to the promise” (verse 29). The real you has been transformed after God into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have become one spirit with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17). The more you identify with His nature in you, His power in you, His knowledge in you, His wisdom in you, Him in you, the more you will put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Soon the storms will listen to you. The waves will stop roaring, and the winds will stop blowing. Demons will respond to you as they responded to Christ, and sickness and disease will go. You have now “put on Christ”! You have put on the new man. You are now obeying the Word. The Word has called you righteous, holy, redeemed, healed, blessed, filled, and victorious. You are choosing to be that way, to talk that way, to think that way. You have put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is being seen in you!

Pastor Tom Kehres

Did You Clean Out Your Closet?

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. —Romans 13:14

Here is a summary of your spiritual wardrobe. In a nutshell, it is the Lord Jesus Christ. In the natural, the only thing you can choose to wear and put on is what you have in your closet or dresser. You cannot wear what is not available to you, what you do not have in your possession. In the Spirit, your wardrobe is limitless. It is made up of the nature and traits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the new man; put on the Lord; put on the Spirit; put on the Word. You can clothe yourself with the new man, with the Lord, with the Spirit, and with the Word. The devil is always trying to dress you. He tells you your faults instead of the promises, your inabilities rather than Christ’s abilities. He desires to clothe you with sin, guilt, and condemnation. He whispers to you of your weaknesses, and he continually tries to get you to wear the old you. He tells you that’s who you are—unworthy, just a failure—that you will never make it. You have to recognize that these are not part of your new wardrobe! You must “cast off the works of darkness” (Romans 13:12), or, as other translations put it, “drop (fling [them] away)” (AMPC) or “. . . remove [them] like dirty clothes” (nlt). They are not part of you; they are no longer in style; they are stained and torn. It is your choice what you wear each day, both physically and spiritually. No one would knowingly wear two different-colored shoes or an outfit that did not match. People would say, “What’s wrong with you? Did you get dressed in the dark?” You must also wear in the Spirit what matches the Lord Jesus Christ! Do not stay in a half-sinner and half-righteous mindset. Put on the righteous man and fling away the sinner once and for all. Start to clean out your spiritual closet today!

Pastor Tom Kehres

Are You Spending Time at the Mirror?

Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. —1 Peter 3:3–4

Peter is trying to take your focus off the natural and put it onto the real person you are now—the new, born-again you—your spirit! He is not saying that it is wrong to style your hair, or wear makeup, or have gold jewelry or nice clothes—he is saying not to make them your priority. Concentrate on the real you—the hidden person of the heart. Build up your new self, make your new self strong, and adorn yourself with righteousness, holiness, and a meek and quiet spirit. There is not enough makeup in the world to cover up a weak and confused spirit. Spend your time putting on the new you, the powerful you, the Christlike you. In the sight of God, this is of great price! Natural things, like gold and makeup and good clothing, come with a great price. We—men and women alike—spend much of our time and money to look our best. To look good spiritually will also cost you something—time: time in prayer, time in the Word, time in the presence of God, time to put on the new you. Gold is corruptible and will pass away! Makeup is corruptible and will wash away. Even the clothes we are so proud of today will be out of date soon. But the real you—the hidden man of the heart— can be clothed daily; this inward man can be renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). Spend some time putting on and being transformed by the Holy Spirit through the Word (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Pastor Tom Kehres